The message to Mesut Ozil, from his new manager and his old team-mates, has been emphatic: welcome home. Bruised by a summer of stress and isolation, Ozil has arrived on Arsenal's pre-season tour of Singapore to find a manager who is desperate to show him the love.

Across world politics, top footballers are being sucked into tensions over immigration and the lurch to the Right, as Mesut Ozil's international retirement convulses supposedly liberal and stable Germany.